


Betrayal

by Medie



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-23
Updated: 2010-02-23
Packaged: 2017-10-07 12:26:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Medie/pseuds/Medie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And when you don't have anywhere else to go, that's reason enough to stay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Betrayal

**Author's Note:**

> written for [](http://ryf.livejournal.com/profile)[**ryf**](http://ryf.livejournal.com/) for my Birthday Drabble-A-Thon.

The day Reese dies, shot dead on the Gateroom floor, Daniel thinks about a lot of things. He ends up, sitting in his office, staring at the letter of resignation he's composed on his computer. It's short and to the point, there's not much sign of the flare for words he's become known for. Though politely worded, it amounts to a giant 'fuck you' to the whole command and the people behind it.

Not the General, or the people he works with, but the people behind it. The faceless Generals and politicians who've done their best to pervert the SGC from the get go.

He thinks of Sha're and Shifu's faces, of Reese, and all the others that have died as a result of the SGC's actions.

There are days he thinks the biggest mistake of his life was accepting Catherine's offer. Today he's sure of it. He's betrayed everything he ever was and ever wanted to be. The man who's skin he's wearing is a stranger to him and the worst part isn't that he's not sure how it happened.

The worst part is that he _is_ and that he watched it happen. He let it happen.

_I thought coming to the SGC was the right thing to do, I thought my wife's best chance lay here. I thought the galaxy's best chance lay here. Now, I am not so sure._

There's no mention of Reese in the letter, although he knows exactly what he would say. He would tell them the truth, that the United States military shot and killed someone with the mind of a child. A powerful android, yes, someone who had demonstrated herself to be an unwitting danger, but a child nevertheless.

He'd promised to protect her and no sooner were the words out of his mouth than Jack had burst through the door, gun blazing.

It's his fault Reese is dead, he knows that. He didn't pull the trigger but he might as well have done it anyway. She's dead because of his mistakes.

Closing his eyes, Daniel lets out a tiny sigh and sees Sha're - Amonet - looking back at him. That last moment before she'd left Abydos with Apophis, seconds after lying to her 'husband' about the fate of Shifu. When she had turned to look, eyes meeting his where he crouched in his hiding place, Daniel had seen something in her eyes.

Even now, he has no idea what exactly it was she was trying to tell him. If it was a message, a plea, or just an acknowledgement of a secret shared between them. A momentary alliance between two enemies. Between him and the monster that had highjacked his wife's body.

Daniel groans, rubbing a hand through his short hair. He doesn't want to think about it and it's all he can think about. So many people dead, so many that he can't remember them all and half-formed faces, hints of voices he can't remember. He's haunted by so many people, watched so many people die because of something he started...

There are days people talk about him like he's the second coming and Daniel tries not to hear it. Quiet murmurs about him being the greatest archaeologist of their age. That when the Gate went public he'd be the most famous archaeologist in history.

He thinks infamous is a better word. None of the others can make the claim of committing an entire planet to a war they'd agreed to in the name of people they'd never known had existed.

None of the others have as much blood on their hands.

"Daniel?"

A voice, hesitant and cautious, pulls his eyes away from the computer. Standing just inside the door, Jack doesn't look like himself. He looks as hesitant and as cautious as his voice had sounded but Daniel can't find it in himself to try making him feel better.

He just fixes his glasses and says, "Yeah?"

"There's pie, in the commissary," Jack jerks a thumb over his shoulder. "Carter's holding a slice for you but, the marines are eyeing it. We don't get back there soon," he manages a faint grin, "she's going to have to rig up some kind of force shield and you know what happens when Carter starts geeking out. Remember the last time? Wires and circuitry everywhere. Brains on the loose. Big mess."

"I'm not hungry." Daniel tells him.

"Yeah, me neither, but it's Carter. And Fraiser. You know what happens if she finds out you're not eating." Jack's hands wave and he cringes. "Shots, vitamins, _really_ big needle."

Daniel just looks at him and Jack sighs.

"I know, the last thing you want to do is be around people, you're doing that thing that you do when you get like this," Jack looks frustrated. "But, trust me, this isn't going to work."

"Neither is the pie."

"No," Jack nods, "but it'll make them feel better." He hesitates and looks at the floor before admitting, "It'd make me feel better."

Daniel doesn't think that's why he gets up, he doesn't know why he does really, except he can't stare at the computer anymore. Not without sending that letter.

Instead, he hits delete and walks away. Maybe it is his fault but, for now, he doesn't know where else he can go.

And when you don't have anywhere else to go, that's reason enough to stay.


End file.
